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The Museumof the Horse

Domaine de Chantilly

Preface by His Highness the Aga Khan

6 30

Part 1

Preface by

His Highness the Aga Khan 8

Introduction 14

From the Horse to Equestrian  Civilizations

Jean-Pierre Digard

Part 2

The Domain of the Horse 32

The Chateau de Chantilly and the  Equestrian Arts

Philip Jodidio

A Temple Dedicated

to the Horse 58

The Grandes Ecuries at Chantilly

Philip Jodidio

Preceding pages

Chantilly racecourse with the Grandes

Ecuries in the background, 2010.

80 170

Part 3 Appendix

The Museum 82

A New Concept in an Old Space

Benoît Junod

The Museum of the Horse 92

Room by Room

Benoît Junod

Plan of the Museum 170

The Foundation for the

Safeguarding and Development

of the Domain of Chantilly 172

Cameron Rashti

Contents

Part 1Preface His Highness the Aga Khan

IntroductionFrom the Horse to Equestrian  Civilizations

8

14

9

Preface

His Highness the Aga Khan

The Museum of the Horse at the Domaine de Chantilly is the successor of the former Musée

Vivant du Cheval, located in the early eighteenth-century Grandes Ecuries, one of the most

magnificent buildings ever conceived for the horse. This new Museum is part of a larger scheme

that has involved the progressive renovation and development of the Domaine de Chantilly.

The horse has played a significant role at Chantilly for many centuries. My own participation in

the Museum of the Horse and in the work undertaken to bring something of its princely lustre

back to Chantilly is, to a greater extent than one might expect, the result of my own history

and that of my family. As a matter of duty, I have devoted decades of my life to the patronage of

the arts and culture, as one of the possible means of fostering human development. In fact, this

became a priority for me very quickly after succeeding to my grandfather’s position, more than

fifty years ago. Then, I became the forty-ninth Imam of the approximately twenty million Shiite

Imami Ismaili Muslims whose predominantly rural and poor populations are scattered across

thirty-five countries, mainly in Central Asia, South-West Africa, and the Middle East. I am the

heir of a culture, or perhaps I should say “cultures” in the plural, that stretch back more than

a millennium. I was, from my early years however, aware through the influence of my father of

French painting and literature. I have lived in France for more than forty years.

Preceding pages

The cupola over the enclosed riding ring

of the Grandes Ecuries. The sculptures

are by Remy-François Bridault (1734–36),

and, at the top, a 1989 lead cast of

Antoine Coysevox’s equestrian sculpture

of Fame Riding Pegasus (La renommée

chevauchant Pégase), 1699.

Left

Zarkava with her first foal named

Zerkaza, a filly by Dalakhani, Bonneval,

France, 2010.

10 Preface

I have tried to put this wealth of experience to work for the benefit of Chantilly. Here,

I have sought to implement some important lessons acquired in countries with very differ-

ent cultures. In fact, I have become convinced that the human and economic action implied

in the conservation or rehabilitation of cultural heritage is closely related, no matter where

they occur. A cultural project focused on a place of history or tradition must take into account

its immediate environment. In other words, beyond the care taken in the revival of a particu-

lar monument or historic site, the redevelopment of public spaces and private ones must be

integrated into the process. The renewal or restoration of a place of culture always implies the

necessity of considering the economic potential destined to ensure the sustainability of the

effort in the long term. The concept is simple. The complexity lies in the need to develop a

strategy and a management model that will ensure sustainable economic development over the

long term. To achieve this, it is absolutely necessary to work with all stakeholders. In Chantilly,

I have had the great joy to be a witness to palpable enthusiasm for the projects I have been

involved in. The racetrack, its buildings and access have been repaired or upgraded. The Fon-

dation pour la Sauvegarde et le Développement du Domaine de Chantilly (Foundation for the

Safeguarding and Development of the Domain of Chantilly) was created, and the magnificent

park of Le Nôtre was the subject of an in-depth renovation extending to the water systems for

the fountains and basins and beyond. The Grande Singerie, with its murals painted by Chris-

tophe Huet in 1737, has been restored in collaboration with the World Monuments Fund, while

the new Hôtel du Jeu de Paume has opened on the Rue du Connetable, close to the Chateau.

The Grandes Ecuries (Great Stables), built by the seventh Prince de Condé, are the loca-

tion of the newly reopened Museum of the Horse, which naturally takes its place here, and is

the only such institution in the world dedicated exclusively to the presentation of the history

of the horse at all latitudes. This broad project is possible only because of the commitment of

Right

His Highness the Aga Khan visiting the

newly restored courtyard of the Grandes

Ecuries in the company of Eric Woerth,

Mayor of Chantilly, Prince Gabriel

de Broglie, Chancellor of the Institut

de France, and Sophie Bienaimé,

Chantilly, 14 May 2011.

11Preface

the Institut de France, the Picardy Region, the Department of the Oise, the town of Chantilly,

and also France Galop, which oversees the operation of the racecourse. Academia and private

sector have also played their roles.

As early as the 1820s, my family owned racing stables in India. My grandfather, Aga Khan

III, was the Leading Owner of thoroughbred horses in England for the first time in 1924. Sub-

sequent to the death of my father in 1960, I assumed this family tradition and I have sought to

breed and race the finest horses since then. As early as the 1980s, when I was involved in the

sponsorship of the Ciga Weekend, which included the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at the Long-

champ racecourse in Paris, we decided to work with culture, and to gather what I would call

representations of the horse in human civilization. What has the horse meant to various epochs

of human civilization, to various countries? It is a fascinating, nearly unlimited subject. One can

look at faith and find the horse everywhere: in the Muslim world, and the Christian world. The

horse has been a part of sport all over the globe, going back for centuries, including hunting on

horseback. One can look at the horse in human life, that is to say the agricultural system; one

can look at the horse in war; or the horse as the vehicle of exploration for hundreds of years.